Effect of Hot Working on the High Cycle Fatigue Behavior of WE43 Rare Earth Magnesium Alloy

Abstract

Monotonic and cyclic behavior of the alloy WE43 plates in two conditions is examined, with an emphasis on revealing microstructural features governing the differences in the behavior of the two plates. To facilitate the evaluation of the effect of hot working conditions on the behavior, the as-cast WE43 was converted into two rolled plates with one being rolled at a temperature for 16.5 °C higher than the other plate. The plates were further processed into the T5 condition. The T5 plate rolled at a lower temperature was found to have a higher strength and elongation to fracture in tension. Additionally, it exhibited superior high cyclic fatigue behavior at room and elevated temperatures. The interesting performance characteristics of the alloy in two conditions are rationalized in terms of their microstructures. The results reveal that it is possible to further optimize the hot working conditions to obtain the alloy exhibiting better performances.